Tag: NSW

Applications are now open for the first round of a new fund set to turbocharge the critical minerals and high-tech metals sector and position regional NSW as a major global supplier. Deputy Premier and Minister for Regional NSW Paul Toole said the Critical Minerals and High-Tech Metals Activation Fund would help diversify and accelerate mining projects in regional NSW. Mr Toole said the State is rich in critical minerals and high-tech metals, such as rare earths, cobalt, copper, antimony, and scandium, which are crucial to a range of emerging technologies including the defence space, the manufacture of electric vehicles, solar panels, and wind turbines. “The NSW Government is investing more than $130 million towards the growth and future of the…

FOR almost 40 years, Mount Thorley Warkworth has been producing coal just out of Singleton in the Hunter Valley region of NSW. The two open cut mines – Mount Thorley (Yancoal and POSCO, 80:20  respectively) and Warkworth (Yancoal, Nippon Steel and Mitsubishi Materials,  84.5:9.5:6 respectively)  – operate side-by-side and use dragline truck and shovel methods to produce medium and high-ash thermal coal and semi-soft coking coal for export. Yancoal is a Chinese state-owned organisation, and is also Australia’s largest pure-coal producer. The organisation operates five mines and manages five others across NSW, Queensland and WA, with a 50pc share in the Middlemount JV. 2018 was Yancoal’s first full year of attributable production from Mount Thorley Warkworth, following the 2017 acquisition,…

THE CSA Copper mine has had almost continuous production since 1871 and, owned by Glencore through Cobar Management Pty Ltd, it produces more than 1.1mt of copper, as well as more than 185,000t of copper concentrate per annum at around 27pc copper metal, which is exported to smelters in India, China and South East Asia. In March of this year, rumours circulated that Aurelia Metals Limited was interested in acquiring CSA Mines. During Aurelia’s March quarter conference call, the company expressed that CSA could potentially be a strategic fit and that further consolidation in the Cobar region was attractive following Aurelia’s successful acquisition of Peak gold mine in 2018. In April Aurelia released a statement confirming that preliminary discussions with…

ALKANE Resources is striving to capitalise on lithium and rare earths demand with cash flow from its Tomingley Gold Operations in NSW driving development of the nearby poly-metallic Dubbo project. Early this year operations at Tomingley, which had historically produced 1 million tonnes of gold per annum,  transitioned from open pit to underground mining. Both the main decline and vent portals had been established and first production of ore was expected by the second half of 2019. In a statement, Alkane managing director Nic Earner said the company had a strong financial year ahead to June 2019 with a production guidance of between 35,000 and 40,000 ounces of gold at an All-In Sustaining Cost of between$1050 and $1150 per ounce.…

Rio Tinto’s Hunter Valley Operations (HVO) project produced more than 13 million tonnes of thermal and semi-soft coking coal in 2015. Image: Rio Tinto. By Elizabeth Fabri AS thermal and coking coal prices recover from record lows, the resources industry remains hopeful the worst is now over for NSW’s economic ‘engine room’; the Hunter Valley. The Hunter Valley is Australia’s largest regional area, comprising 11 local governments, about 600,000 residents, and the country’s seventh largest city, Newcastle. Coal mining in the region dates back to 1791, and continues to drive the economy with a number of world-class coal projects spread across the 29,145sqkm expanse. When coal prices took a hit four years ago, the Hunter’s strength was put to the…